Belgium

For the last six weeks, French artist Guillaume Bottazzi has been creating a vast mural in honor of the victims of the Brussels attacks. On a break from his work high above the EU quarter, he told DW about his project.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Glowing curves

Guillaume Bottazzi, a French artist based in Brussels, is defying the unpleasant Belgian winter to complete a mural that will be a permanent memorial to the victims of the March 22 attacks in Brussels. Immense curves in glowing colors - yellow, ochre, red and mauve dominate - are taking shape behind the scaffolding, embellishing an otherwise dull facade at Place Jourdan.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Fries with a view

Bottazzi began his project at the end of October and expects to finish by the end of the year, weather permitting. At 16 meters by 7 meters (52.5 feet by 23 feet), the vast mural is visible from every corner of the square. The best view is from the popular Maison Antoine fries stand, which attracted German Chancellor Angela Merkel during an EU summit earlier this year.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Black, yellow, red

With lips painted in the Belgian national colors to "show empathy for the victims" and outfitted with a brush, headphones and around 1,000 songs, Bottazzi spends seven days a week on the scaffolding, making the most of the Belgian capital's short daylight hours.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Festive finery

Bottazzi's influence at Place Jourdan doesn't end with the mural. This year's Christmas decorations echo the forms and colors taking shape overhead. The local supermarket, in need of some reconstruction work, has been covered with a screen that was also designed by Bottazzi (seen here in the background).

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Maelbeek memorial

The nearby Maelbeek metro station, site of one of the bomb attacks in March, has also been redesigned to commemorate the victims. The station's tile portraits by artist Benoit van Innis, seen around the world in media coverage, became iconic symbols in the wake of the tragedy. Van Innis was asked to create a memorial at the station and was inspired by 20th-century​ poet Federico Garcia Lorca.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Restore, not repair

During the bomb attack at the Brussels airport, a well-known sculpture by Olivier Strebelle was damaged by the explosion. The airport, together with Strebelle, chose to restore the popular work rather than repair it, so it could serve as a reminder of the victims. Restoration work, which began in late November, is expected to take six months.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Comics in solidarity

Following the attacks, artists around the world responded by showing their support with art. Iconic Belgian comic book hero Tintin was a popular choice, and many French artists, like cartoonist Plantu, chose to express solidarity with their stricken neighbors.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Simple and spontaneous

Using simple colored chalk, hundreds of people scrawled messages of hope, love and support in the days after the attacks. Makeshift memorials, like this one at the central Place de la Bourse/Beursplein, were covered with flowers and impromptu artwork.

Author: Martin Kuebler (Brussels)

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Glowing curves

Guillaume Bottazzi, a French artist based in Brussels, is defying the unpleasant Belgian winter to complete a mural that will be a permanent memorial to the victims of the March 22 attacks in Brussels. Immense curves in glowing colors - yellow, ochre, red and mauve dominate - are taking shape behind the scaffolding, embellishing an otherwise dull facade at Place Jourdan.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Fries with a view

Bottazzi began his project at the end of October and expects to finish by the end of the year, weather permitting. At 16 meters by 7 meters (52.5 feet by 23 feet), the vast mural is visible from every corner of the square. The best view is from the popular Maison Antoine fries stand, which attracted German Chancellor Angela Merkel during an EU summit earlier this year.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Black, yellow, red

With lips painted in the Belgian national colors to "show empathy for the victims" and outfitted with a brush, headphones and around 1,000 songs, Bottazzi spends seven days a week on the scaffolding, making the most of the Belgian capital's short daylight hours.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Festive finery

Bottazzi's influence at Place Jourdan doesn't end with the mural. This year's Christmas decorations echo the forms and colors taking shape overhead. The local supermarket, in need of some reconstruction work, has been covered with a screen that was also designed by Bottazzi (seen here in the background).

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Maelbeek memorial

The nearby Maelbeek metro station, site of one of the bomb attacks in March, has also been redesigned to commemorate the victims. The station's tile portraits by artist Benoit van Innis, seen around the world in media coverage, became iconic symbols in the wake of the tragedy. Van Innis was asked to create a memorial at the station and was inspired by 20th-century​ poet Federico Garcia Lorca.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Restore, not repair

During the bomb attack at the Brussels airport, a well-known sculpture by Olivier Strebelle was damaged by the explosion. The airport, together with Strebelle, chose to restore the popular work rather than repair it, so it could serve as a reminder of the victims. Restoration work, which began in late November, is expected to take six months.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Comics in solidarity

Following the attacks, artists around the world responded by showing their support with art. Iconic Belgian comic book hero Tintin was a popular choice, and many French artists, like cartoonist Plantu, chose to express solidarity with their stricken neighbors.

A mural for a 'frustrated, fragile' Europe

Simple and spontaneous

Using simple colored chalk, hundreds of people scrawled messages of hope, love and support in the days after the attacks. Makeshift memorials, like this one at the central Place de la Bourse/Beursplein, were covered with flowers and impromptu artwork.

Author: Martin Kuebler (Brussels)

Up on the scaffolding from dawn until dusk, seven days a week, facing winds and sometimes bitter cold: abstract artist Guillaume Bottazzi isn't easily deterred.

The French muralist, who has made Belgium his home for the last six years, has been working on his latest project in Brussels at Place Jourdan, in the EU district, since the end of October, in partnership with the European Commission and the French Embassy.

With its immense curves in glowing colors - yellow, ochre, red and mauve - the permanent mural will serve as a memorial to the 32 victims of the attacks that hit the Maelbeek metro station in the EU quarter and the Brussels airport on March 22.

Bottazzi's mural is part of a larger renovation of Brussels' Place Jourdan

Bottazzi, known for more than 40 mural projects around the world in places like China, Japan, France, the United States and Britain, said he expects to finish the Brussels project by the end of the year, weather permitting. The mural is part of a larger renovation of the square which, when completed, will incorporate the artwork into its overall design.

Spattered in paint and sipping an espresso on a terrace at the foot of the scaffolding, Bottazzi told DW about his work-in-progress.

DW: You're working at the Place Jourdan, in the middle of the Belgian capital and just a few hundred meters from the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council buildings. How has the location of your project influenced the development of the mural?

Every project is different - each project is connected with its surrounding. Here, at Place Jourdan, the Belgian people have decided that this is the most European place in Brussels. It's a place where people mix: European parliamentarians, civil servants, but also the Belgian people. I love Place Jourdan because there are many different cultures - Armenian, Italian, Belgian - and they live together, and they live well. This place is a symbol. The city wants to promote Brussels not only as the capital of Belgium, but also the capital of Europe.

But the mural isn't just a symbol of the neighborhood - it's also a memorial to the victims of the attacks that hit Brussels earlier this year.

Guillaume Bottazzi said his work has been well received by local residents

That's why I paint my lips [with the Belgian colors of black, yellow and red] every day, because I want to show my empathy for the victims. All of us in Europe, we are all frustrated and fragile - after the attacks, after Brexit - and we don't want to speak about it because we are afraid.

But we are still continuing to prepare for the future, and with my painting, I don't want to remind people of what's happened. I want to bring us somewhere else. I want people to discover another world, an unreal world.

I am not special; I am just like everyone else. That's why I decide to paint alone, to show that we have a great capacity to do many things as European people.

This isn't your first major mural project. In fact, it's not even your first project following a tragic event.

It's my first project of this size in Belgium, but I've made more than 40 large projects elsewhere. In Japan, I created the country's biggest mural painting at the Miyanomori International Museum of Art in Sapporo - they proposed that I paint the whole museum, 900 square meters. This was just after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. I thought I would lose the project, but the museum saw it as an opportunity to support the victims, and also to bring hope to the Japanese people.

After the attacks, people showed their support for Brussels with public chalk drawings and messages

You've been working non-stop since the end of October, and Belgium isn't known for its sunny weather this time of year. What attracts you to this kind of project?

As it's oil paint, I will be able to work until the temperature drops to minus 12 degrees [Celsius/around 10 Fahrenheit]. Up [on the scaffolding], it's windy - and it's a very athletic activity, climbing up high.

But when I paint here, I have a dialogue with the space and I'm influenced by the area. There is the verticality to the art, with curves flying to the sky, and the painting connects to the space.

What has the response been from the locals?

I could paint in my studio, but I have to paint in front of people. This is part of the process. I want the people at this square to see the work in progress, and this will help them to understand what I'm trying to do.

This morning, when I was looking at my painting, a man put his hand on me and said "thank you." I feel an energy is growing here, and, step by step, there is something positive happening. Even if I am cold, I am very glad to participate in a process to make life better in this place.